Registration is now open online for the 2015
Idealease/NPTC Safety Seminars!

Idealease, its members and
the National Private Truck Council NPTC will again be hosting
safety seminars in 2015. The one day seminars this year will focus
on basic safety and compliance, regulation changes and CSA.
The seminars and will be provided to all Idealease customers,
potential customers and NPTC members at no charge. The seminar
provides important information applicable for both the novice and
experienced transportation professionals.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced
on Tuesday that effective Dec. 18, 2014, professional truck drivers
will no longer have to comply with a burdensome daily paperwork
requirement, saving the trucking industry an estimated $1.7 billion
annually without compromising safety.

"We delivered big on
President Obama's call to cut red tape and waste," said
Secretary Foxx. "America's truckers should be able to focus
more on getting their goods safely to store shelves, constructions
sites or wherever they need to be instead of spending countless
hours on unnecessary paperwork that costs the industry nearly $2
billion each year. This is a far better way to do business."

Commercial truck drivers
are required to conduct pre- and post-trip inspections of their
vehicles to identify any safety defects or maintenance concerns.
The final rule announced today removes the requirement that drivers
file a report for approximately 95 percent of inspections when
equipment problems or safety concerns are not identified.

The amount of savings is
disputed by the industry as many carriers will still require that
there drivers complete a DVIR by company regulation documenting
that the Pre/Post inspection was actually completed.

The savings also did not account for the fact that
many carriers have now switched to electronic DVIR's.

Here is a FMCSA regulation that has slipped

by most Carriers!!!

Since January 2014, carriers have been required to
obtain the CDLIS MVR from a CDL driver's licensing state, verifying
the driver is medically qualified to drive, and to place the MVR in
the driver's DQ file. 49 CFR 391.23(m)(2).
The MVR must include the type of operation the driver
self-certified he will perform and that the driver was certified by
a medical examiner listed in the National Registry. The motor
carrier has 15 days to obtain the MVR from the date stamped on the
medical examination certificate. The medical examiner's
certificate or a copy must be placed in the DQ file for the 15 day
period (or until the CDLIS MVR is put there). Without either
the MVR or the medical examiner's certificate (for the 15 day
period), the motor carrier may not let the driver operate a CMV.

This requirement was adopted in 2008 (73 Fed. Reg.
73096 Dec. 1, 2008) and was supposed to take effect on Jan. 30,
2012, but FMCSA put it off for two years because states complained
they could not input medical certification information into the
CDLIS driver records fast enough (76 Fed. Reg. 70663 Nov. 15,
2011). The FMCSA dismissed comments that the rule would add
costs to motor carriers. It acknowledged that carriers might incur
additional costs to obtain an additional MVR at the beginning of
employment (i.e., obtaining an initial MVR and then getting a
second one 15 days later) but said carriers could just wait until
the 15 day period was almost up to get the MVR. They also
noted that carriers might have to obtain an additional MVR if a
driver's medical certificate expired before the carrier's required
annual check, but simply stated that it took those costs into
account when drafting the rule. The FMCSA did not discuss
drivers who might need more frequent medical certifications.

Finally, under a proposed rule issued May 10, 2013,
the 15 day grace period would eventually be removed. (78 Fed.
Reg. 27349.) If the proposed rule is adopted without change,
carriers would be required to obtain the CDLIS MVR before letting
the driver drive, and would not be able to rely on putting the
medical examiner's certificate in the DQ file. The rule would
require medical examiners to submit the results of their medical
examinations on the same day as the examination, and for states to
update their CDLIS MVR information within a day. Because
there would be no delay in the information being put in the CDLIS,
there would be no need for a delay in carriers obtaining the
information.

December
12, 2014

Follow Idealease online for current industry news

2015 Idealease Safety Seminar Schedule:

March
4

Portland,
OR

March
5

Seattle,
WA

March
17

Chattanooga,
TN

March
18

Atlanta,
GA

March
19

Nashville,
TN

March
24

Houston,
TX

March
25

Lafayette,
LA

March
26

Mobile,
AL

March
31

Kansas
City, MO

April
1

St.
Louis, MO

April
2

Memphis,
TN

April
7

Cincinnati,
OH

April
8

Columbus,
OH

April
9

Elkhart,
IN

April
14

Linden,
NJ

April
14

Phoenix,
AZ

April
15

San
Leandro, CA

April
16

Lodi,
CA

April
21

Santa
Fe Springs, CA

April
21

Harrisburg,
PA

April
22

Ventura,
CA

April
22

Landover,
MD

April
23

Baltimore,
MD

April
28

Oklahoma
City, OK

April
30

Milwaukee,
WI

May
5

Kelowna,
BC

May
6

Lexington,
KY

May
7

Denver,
CO

May
12

Tampa,
FL

June
25

Santa
Rosa, CA

October
22

San
Martin, CA

The Idealease
Safety Bulletin is provided for Idealease affiliates and their
customers and is not to be construed as a complete or exhaustive source
of compliance or safety information. The Idealease Safety Bulletin
is advisory in nature and does not warrant, guarantee, or otherwise
certify compliance with laws, regulations, requirements,
or guidelines of any local, state, or Federal agency and/or
governing body, or industry standards.